Tucson Development Thread

[aznate27]

Rio Nuevo gets two Greyhound site redevelopment bids

Rio Nuevo has two, $100 million proposals to develop its land near the Tucson Convention Center in the table.

The board voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to publicly interview the two bidders in a final evaluation before it selects a winner to purchase and develop the approximately 8.5-acres of Rio Nuevo land, now occupied by the Greyhound Bus Depot.

In May, the district sought bids on the property located behind the TCC along Granada Avenue, east of Interstate 10 and north of Cushing Street.

Both bids promise to transform the site of the current Greyhound station into a vibrant western-gateway to downtown. To accomplish that, both include plans for a hotel, parking garage and some mix of apartments, office space, and restaurants and shops.

[Thirsty]

My quick Google search only found drawings from 2007 for the West of TCC site.

I know some of you frequently dig deep for this sort of stuff, so if anyone runs across revised plans please post them here for the rest of us. Thanks.

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by Thirsty

My quick Google search only found drawings from 2007 for the West of TCC site.

I know some of you frequently dig deep for this sort of stuff, so if anyone runs across revised plans please post them here for the rest of us. Thanks.

I haven't seen anything updated but we should see some documentation on the Rio Nuevo site soon.

[southtucsonboy77]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

I haven't seen anything updated but we should see some documentation on the Rio Nuevo site soon.

And here they are:

Rio Nuevo

[Ted Lyons]

Nice!

[andrewsaturn]

Thanks! Now we know the gateway to downtown through congress will be dramatically improved in the near future.

[southtucsonboy77]

Overall, I like Nor-Gen site plan and renderings. The one thing that gives me heartache is that the residential building looks waaaay too much like a cross of the New Armory Building across the freeway and the Cadence student housing building (the one that sits on the garage).

If I could morph the two proposals, I would keep the Nor-Gen site plan, use the design/architecture of the hotel and use it for the housing structure, and take the Peach proposal's Drury Hotel concept/rendering in place of the Nor-Gen hotel.

Lastly, the deadline for the Rondstadt proposals is the end of July (or was it August?)...so that's another development to look forward to.

[Ted Lyons]

My biggest concern with the Nor-Gen plan is the lack of a committed hotel operator. I might be wrong but, if companies were "sincerely interested," I'd think one would have signed on by now, like Drury did.

[InTheBurbs]

Originally Posted by andrewsaturn

Thanks! Now we know the gateway to downtown through congress will be dramatically improved in the near future.

Of course, Tucson-wise, the "near-future" is a relative term!

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

My biggest concern with the Nor-Gen plan is the lack of a committed hotel operator. I might be wrong but, if companies were "sincerely interested," I'd think one would have signed on by now, like Drury did.

I wouldn't sweat it. Peach has had Drury lined up for a while. They were the operator on their original proposal. But IIRC Nor-gen was working with Marriott back on the TCC hotel proposal, or even before. More than likely they want to wait to see if they get the go-ahead before committing. I'm sure the TCC hotel fiasco left a bad taste with many hotel chains.

Originally Posted by southtucsonboy77

Overall, I like Nor-Gen site plan and renderings. The one thing that gives me heartache is that the residential building looks waaaay too much like a cross of the New Armory Building across the freeway and the Cadence student housing building (the one that sits on the garage).

Agreed. A 4 story building sitting on a 4 story parking garage just doesn't cut it visually. I like the overall Nor-gen proposal, but Peach has more hotel rooms, more apartments and more height. Hopefully whichever is chosen puts some additional thought into the design. That is going to be the face of downtown to anyone passing through on I-10.

Interesting that both proposals have the Nor-gen Exhibit Center. Is that definitely a go?

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by InTheBurbs

Of course, Tucson-wise, the "near-future" is a relative term!



I wouldn't sweat it. Peach has had Drury lined up for a while. They were the operator on their original proposal. But IIRC Nor-gen was working with Marriott back on the TCC hotel proposal, or even before. More than likely they want to wait to see if they get the go-ahead before committing. I'm sure the TCC hotel fiasco left a bad taste with many hotel chains.



Agreed. A 4 story building sitting on a 4 story parking garage just doesn't cut it visually. I like the overall Nor-gen proposal, but Peach has more hotel rooms, more apartments and more height. Hopefully whichever is chosen puts some additional thought into the design. That is going to be the face of downtown to anyone passing through on I-10.

Interesting that both proposals have the Nor-gen Exhibit Center. Is that definitely a go?

The exhibition center is technically separate from this project and is guaranteed as a result of one of the settlements reach by Rio Nuevo, I believe. Also, per the ADS article, Rio Nuevo has to build a parking garage for the exhibition center, which seems to have been part of the RFP.

[Ritarancher]

Wow! Development is really kicking into full gear in Tucson. We've got the Mercado district, arena area, Main Gate and Campbell areas all preparing for development. Downtown Tucson is very quickly becoming an urban mecca. Downtown in three years will be completely unrecognizable, compared to what it was just three years ago. The streetcar has already pulled it's weight in the terms of development.

I see a good future for downtown. If all the current projects go well (having clean, modern architecture, ground level retail) I suspect that national businesses will want to relocate here, making jobs and bringing residents downtown. I don't see much of a manhattanization going on in the near future; we're not going to get the super tall towers that we all want, but we will continue to develop like European cities but with an American twist (Barcelona + A basketball arena). We will be one of the most unique, diverse cities on a global scale. It won't be until around 2020 when Tucson starts building real skyscrapers, after we develop all of our excessive extra land downtown.

I might just be an optimist, but things seem to be pretty good downtown and I don't see that trend ending any time soon.

I wanted to share this article that was on Yahoo with you. It compares Tucson and Phoenix. It seemed very accurate and recent. However, at the bottom of the article there's a poll that asks readers what city they think won the city smackdown and Tucson pulled in an impressive 88% of all voters and Phoenix a mere 12%.

The Article;
https://www.yahoo.com/travel/city-sm...467514092.html

[Patrick S]

$197 million later, streetcar starts running Friday
- One highlight from the article:
"Streetcar supporters aren’t content to revel in their success. Plans are already afoot to find ways to expand the line.

Farley said the expansion would focus first on connecting Tucson Mall and the airport. Since it appears the U.S. Congress won’t dole out any transit funds anytime soon, Farley said he is turning to private and local funding sources.

Farley said he’s already in talks with a couple of big investors, but wouldn’t reveal any specifics. Another funding source being pursued is a local improvement district. That’s where property owners along the proposed route would agree to higher taxes if those dollars go towards the streetcar.

”I don’t have any faith the federal government will fund anything again,” Farley said. “But I’d rather have outside money anyway because it’s more nimble and we want to build on our successes now.”

Farley said private money would likely keep costs lower by 20-30 percent because federal red tape wouldn’t be around to balloon costs and delay progress."

Streetcar culminates a decades-long effort

- Interesting article, which chronicles the history of rail transit in Tucson.

[nickw252]

Originally Posted by Patrick S

$197 million later, streetcar starts running Friday
Farley said the expansion would focus first on connecting Tucson Mall and the airport.

Connecting to the airport should be priority number 1 if Tucson wants a comprehensive multi-modal transit system. I wonder if the Airport could help fund an extension.

While expanding on the south side they should also put a park and ride down there for people commuting into downtown. It may not save much time but would at least save on parking costs.

[Patrick S]

Originally Posted by nickw252

Connecting to the airport should be priority number 1 if Tucson wants a comprehensive multi-modal transit system. I wonder if the Airport could help fund an extension.

While expanding on the south side they should also put a park and ride down there for people commuting into downtown. It may not save much time but would at least save on parking costs.

Totally agree that a route to the airport is priority number one, but I would rather it be true light-rail with its own right-of-way than the streetcar.

[Thirsty]

Well good news and bad news.

No plans on extending the trolley down to the airport. They plan to run it down 6th Ave to the Laos transit center.

Hopefully that leaves the option to run light rail down Campbell to TIA.

[Patrick S]

Originally Posted by Thirsty

Well good news and bad news.

No plans on extending the trolley down to the airport. They plan to run it down 6th Ave to the Laos transit center.

Hopefully that leaves the option to run light rail down Campbell to TIA.

Specifics?

The article makes it sound like there are plans for a route to the airport.

[Thirsty]

Originally Posted by Patrick S

Specifics?

The article makes it sound like there are plans for a route to the airport.

Laos Transit was always part of the plan, and I remember last time the trolley vs. light rail discussion came up here being disappointing that nothing had changed.

Although, I wouldn't mind seeing it extend down 6th into South Tucson.

But maybe things have changed.

[Ted Lyons]

Finally found the preliminary renderings for the Speedway & Campbell project. The allusions to Whole Foods are pretty obvious.

[andrewsaturn]

Originally Posted by Patrick S

Totally agree that a route to the airport is priority number one, but I would rather it be true light-rail with its own right-of-way than the streetcar.

I agree, light rail transit from airport to downtown is really important. It definitely should be at the top of the list. I would say the Uofa campus is the main draw of people visiting tucson and downtown/4th ave is the connector with future hotel rooms and lots of restaurants for the tourists. Also, along with Sonoran desert museum, it's all balanced more on the west side of town and it just makes sense for that connection.

[Patrick S]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

Finally found the preliminary renderings for the Speedway & Campbell project. The allusions to Whole Foods are pretty obvious.

I kinda like it. Looks pretty modern. Definitely will add density. Any idea when they break ground?